NYSUT fights tax cap

Updated 6:52 am, Thursday, February 21, 2013

Assemblyman John McDonald III, left, and Senator Neil Breslin, center, listen as Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk, right, addresses those gathered for a press conference at the Legislative Office Building on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Albany, NY. Attendees at the press conference called on the Governor and the leaders of the five legislative conferences to increase education aid to public schools. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Assemblyman John McDonald III, left, and Senator Neil Breslin,...

Dick Iannuzzi, president of NYSUT talks to members of the press at the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Albany, NY. NYSUT filed a lawsuit against the state's property tax cap. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Dick Iannuzzi, president of NYSUT talks to members of the press at...

Video courtesy of nysnys.com
/ Times Union

Dick Iannuzzi, president of NYSUT talks to members of the press at the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Albany, NY. NYSUT filed a lawsuit against the state's property tax cap. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Dick Iannuzzi, president of NYSUT talks to members of the press at...

Dick Iannuzzi, president of NYSUT talks to members of the press at the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Albany, NY. NYSUT filed a lawsuit against the state's property tax cap. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Dick Iannuzzi, president of NYSUT talks to members of the press at...

State Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk, at podium, surrounded by fellow legislators, parents, school administrators and members of education groups hold a press conference at the Legislative Office Building on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Albany, NY. Attendees at the press conference called on the Governor and the leaders of the five legislative conferences to increase education aid to public schools. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

State Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk, at podium, surrounded by fellow...

State Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk, addresses those gathered for a press conference at the Legislative Office Building on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Albany, NY. Attendees at the press conference called on the Governor and the leaders of the five legislative conferences to increase education aid to public schools. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

State Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk, addresses those gathered for a press...

ALBANY — The state's property tax cap law creates inequity between affluent and poor school districts, New York State United Teachers said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The teachers union filed a legal challenge to the 2011 property tax cap law, claiming it was unconstitutional because it requires a supermajority of 60 percent to override. It has had a dire effect on the educational opportunities of poor and minority students, the suit contends.

"We believe very strongly in the principle that every student, no matter where they live or go to school, should have the opportunity to receive a quality public education," NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi said in a statement. "In challenging the constitutionality of the tax cap, we are fighting for that principle, just as we are fighting for the democratic principles of 'one person, one vote' and for the right of citizens, through local control of their schools, to determine for themselves how much they want to spend on their own community's schools."

Cuomo has lauded the cap, which forces school districts to win the support of 60 percent of voters if they increase the amount of their budget that comes from property taxes by more than 2 percent between school years. The measure also applies to municipal entities like counties and towns, but their 60 percent "override" can come in a vote of elected officials.

On Wednesday, Cuomo said he stands by the law, which has kept tax increases in check. He also says the cap is designed to set a benchmark for budget discussions, and direct public discourse away from large tax increases and toward talk of sharing services or cutting spending.

"We want the best education system on the planet, that's our goal," Cuomo said after an event in the Bronx. "On the other hand, the answer can't always be raising taxes."

Proponents hailed the property tax cap as a significant source of relief for taxpayers, who typically send more than half their property tax bill to the local school district. Education advocates say the cap has decimated school budgets and forced the layoffs of thousands of teachers and the elimination of many valuable academic programs and after-school activities.

NYSUT estimates that 35,000 educators have lost their jobs in the last five years and that many more face elimination this year, a number fueled in part by the tax cap restrictions. That is more than 10 percent of the state's entire teaching workforce, and it has meant the loss of many dues-paying members for the group in that time as well.

NYSUT, which has 600,000 members and opposed the cap from the start, threatened the suit for months. In 2011, NYSUT spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a radio advertising campaign calling the cap a "gimmick." The union had advocated for a circuit-breaker system that would provide property tax rebates based on income and in many iterations raise taxes on high-income earners.

The suit puts Democratic legislators between the politically mighty teachers union and a popular governor. At a Wednesday news conference calling for more education funding, most of the Capital Region's Democratic legislators went out of their way to avoid commenting on the suit. Most, including Sens. Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem and Cecilia Tkaczyk, D-Duanesburg, said they hadn't seen the court papers. Tkaczyk said she didn't want to see the cap overturned, but felt "schools are running out of money, and they're running out of time." Breslin was the only legislator present who was in office when the cap became law. He voted for it.

"Here, we've presented that the percentage of state aid for schools has decreased dramatically," he said when asked if the cap should be overturned. "It becomes more regressive because property taxes are increased. We're doing less of the progressivity than supporting our schools than ever before."

Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, D-Albany, said she wasn't sure overturning the tax cap "will get us where we need to go" because taxpayers aren't willing to support increases above 2 percent.

"We've got to have the state aid because we can't keep imposing these additional costs," Fahy, a former school board member, said.

Republicans in the Senate denounced the lawsuit as a step backward. In a statement, Republican Leader Dean Skelos said the suit has "no merit" and vowed to protect the cap.

Last year, 95 percent of the state's school districts passed budgets that stayed within the cap, said Brian Sampson, executive director of Unshackle Upstate, a business group. He said New York has some of the nation's highest property taxes and accused the union of showing "disdain" for taxpayers.

"Rather than attacking taxpayers by undermining the property tax cap, NYSUT and its members should be working with school districts and families to ensure that our children receive a world class education that is affordable," he said in a statement.

Iannuzzi countered that the lawsuit was not about seeking more taxes. It was about preventing a widening gulf between the educational opportunities available for children.

"It's shortsighted to make New York so business friendly, the education system deteriorates to the point we're not business friendly any more," he said.